Adventure
Archive Outside magazine, May 1996 I Hear America Slogging Who are these rough, smelly pilgrims, fueled by ibuprofen and Snickers, shuffling toward Katahdin? Appalachian Trail through-hikers, of course–wayfarers on a classic holy road that’s big enough to embrace rattled urban refugees, Walden-toting aesthetes,…
Outside magazine, November 1997 Assuming That the Calibration of My Heart Rate and Recovery Times Has Been Optimally Linked to My Individualized Nutritional Needs, I Will Kick Your Ass A bit of in-your-face conversation with triathlon’s controversial heir apparent By John…
Ben Johnson always ran in front. First in Seoul, first in scandal, first in exile. But now the pack, increasingly drug-ridden and morally indistinguishable from the fallen sprinter, has caught up to him. Which is exactly why Johnson thinks he can be out front once more.
Dispatches, September 1998 Politics A Paler Shade of Brown Republican hard-liners say they care — no, really — about the environment By Jonathan Miles It wasn’t particularly surprising — or even unusual — that more than 100 stalwart…
Outside magazine, September 1999 Good, Clean, Dangerous Places Wilderness is where we find our deepest imagery, our purest freedom, our truest selves. We’d be lost without it, and we’ve never needed it more than we do now.
Outside magazine, November 1995 Climbing: Dad, Am I Over the Hill? By Todd Balf (with Joe Glickman) As a 98-pound 12-year-old, Tommy Caldwell of Colorado climbed the Diamond on Rocky Mountain National Park’s Longs Peak, one of the premier big-wall routes in the country.
Survivor II, Episode 2 People who eat people are the luckiest people in the world By Bill Vaughn Courtesy of CBS Before the bloodthirsty lords of England turned Australia into a very large prison island stocked with…
Outside Magazine, October 1998 Frustration All the Bad Breaks Then the world’s many problems were suddenly solved By Bryan Di Salvatore Summer 1978. My friend Bill and I had fetched up on Tavarua, an uninhabited sand tonsure ringing…
Outside magazine, February 1996 Science: Out with the Old, In with the Snooze The new, improved Biosphere 2 might make for better science, but we sure miss Johnny Dolphin By Stephanie Pearson Remember Biosphere 2? A futuristic 1991 experIment, it placed eight…
 Cycling Special, March 1999 With the Wind At His Heels A gusty adventure in the wilds of Patagonia, both on bike and very suddenly off By Mark Levine Be the Sag Wagon How to…
 Outside magazine, May 1997 The Killing of Wolf Number Ten When Chad McKittrick murdered the pride of the Yellowstone wolf reintroduction project, he became the prey By Thomas McNamee A man in a blue 1988 Ford pickup truck turns…
Family Vacations, Summer 1996 Be Amphibious If Sea kayakers were any closer to the water, they’d have gills. By Bill Heavey Our Favorite Places | Inside Skinny | Hysterical Parent |…
Dispatches, July 1998 Trends If It’s 100 Years Old, It Must Be Good! Cycling’s slightly baffling (and very bumpy) infatuation with retro-chic By Paul Andersen ‘It’s the purest sense of the bicycle there is,” says Wes Williams as he…
Dispatches, August 1998 Animal Rights Put That Bunny Down, or I’ll Kick Your Butt Steve Hindi pioneers a new brand of brass-knuckled activism By Jonathan Eig Yes, it’s true that Steve Hindi is both an animal-rights activist and…
Outside magazine, May 1997 Toward Thee I Lurch, Thou All-Destroying but Uninterested Grizzly Bear Like Ahab before him, Troy Hurtubise obsessively stalks the Great Other, donning 147 pounds of homemade armor, suffering countless test-pummelings, and sliding into bankruptcy as he awaits the ultimate…
Outside magazine, August 1996 A Hip New Twist to Swimming Technique The secret to the perfect workout, say Olympic coaches, is all in the midsection By Laura Hilgers To become a more powerful and efficient swimmer, practice this simple dry-land exercise:…
Outside magazine, August 1996 Welcome to the Power Vortex Way up in the wilds of northern California, a harmonic convergence of high peaks, spires, whitewater, and singletrack By Andrew Rice When seemingly all of urban California is heading for Sierra Nevada retreats…
Outside magazine, October 1994 Bobsledding: What a Great Idea for a Movie By Todd Balf (with Greg Child and Dan Dickison) The U.S. bobsled team can’t seem to buy a win. First, they bombed at the Olympics in Lillehammer. Then, on a novel summer tour, they…
Outside magazine, October 1995 Conditions: Where the Air Is Unfair By Mark Jannot Ventura, home of lemon groves, California surf, and Patagonia Inc. headquarters, is also on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s air-quality hit list. Ever since amendments to the Clean Air Act were…
Destinations: News for Adventurous Travelers, November 1996 The Animals March, Two by Ten Thousand A winter’s worth of the continent’s most spectacular migrations As season’s change, many animals have to move, and when they move en masse, it can be spectacular. Here’s’ a…
According to legend, New Zealand’s South Island was formed when the dawn froze 150 shipwrecked gods into mountains. There are worse places to spend eternity. By Patrick Symmes Geoff Spearpoint/Hedgehog House Escapism 101: Mount Aspiring, Mount Aspiring National Park…
Dispatches, November 1998 Exhibitions It’s 900 Miles Long. It’s 20 Feet Tall. It’s … Art! On the Snake River, one man’s ode to the beleagured sockeye By Rob Nixon “I‘ll have to start a factory to make these things,”…
Outside magazine, January 1999 Books: Lives and Times By James Zug Crazy Horse, by Larry McMurtry (Penguin, $20). With doorstop-size biographies the rage, a compact alternative is arriving in the form of the new Penguin Life…
News for Adventurous Travelers, February 1997 Horns of Plenty Bull stats on the great King Ranch By Paul Kvinta Nothing is so quintessentially Texas as King Ranch. It’s big. It’s swaggering. It’s full of red meat. And, for those traveling to…
 Outside magazine, April 1995 After Rwanda From the shadows thrown by Dian Fossey, Jose Kalpers emerged as the mountain gorillas’ next great hope. Then came a civil war that decimated a country, put the primates further at risk, and left the exiled savior…
Destinations, May 1998 A Few Sage Comments on the Benefits of Higher — and Wetter, and Muddier, and Snowier — Education The simple secret to getting good at something — climbing, for instance, and sailing, mountain biking, snowboarding, and more — is to…
Outside Magazine, May 1999 INNS & LODGES Rainbow Ranch A deft-enough cast from the deck adjacent to your room in Rainbow Ranch’s south wing might well plop a Madame X into a riffle of the plentiful…
Outside magazine, July 1995 Triathlon: The Waning of Tinley? By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard and Alison Osius) Scott Tinley, hoping to rub out the memory of a subpar performance at last year’s Hawaii Ironman, didn’t do himself any favors when he chose to…
Dispatches, August 1997 Y A C H T I N G Like the Vikings, Except for that Nasty Pillaging An adventuresome author tries to recreate a dicey 1,000-year-old voyage By Paul Scott It was like the crack you hear…
Destinations, August 1998 A Brief and Shining Season Summer is short in Colorado’s highest wilderness. Better hurry. By Stephanie Gregory Geographically, the north park region of Colorado couldn’t be much closer to the state’s megaresorts. Steamboat Springs lies just 65…
Outside magazine, November 1997 Because There’s Lots of Them A chat with John Swanson, molehill-bagger extraordinaire By Katie Arnold It used to be that to really wow your friends and neighbors, all you had to do was scale a…
Out Front, Fall 1998 Competition What Are Friends For? An Ironman up-and-comer looks to dethrone her mentor By Lolly Merrell When Heather Fuhr (pictured) closed on the heels of Paula Newby-Fraser at last year’s Ironman Triathlon World Championship…
Winter Travel Guide Our Journey, Our Selves By Lorien Warner Some 300 outfitters now offer thousands of female-only trips worldwide. “Women today are finding that it can be more fun to hang with the ‘girls’ than compete with the boys,” says Yvonne Lusetti of…
Outside magazine, January 1996 A Two-Elk Pileup’s Causing Big Delays… By Todd Balf and Paul Kvinta (with Brooke DeNisco, Martin Forstenzer, and Eileen Hansen) In what could be shaping up as a battle of the homespun heavyweights, Charles Kuralt has procured a radio station…
Outside magazine, February 1998 Field Notes: Diorama Obscura Shuffling among history’s spoils, with animate bones, 18 million bugs, and trickster memories By Mark Levine Not long ago, I returned home from a trip to Asia, where I had climbed a…
Destinations, February 1999 First Tracks Catching a Break (or Three) The endless-summer set has yet to find Raglan’s world-class waves. Lucky for you. Surfing N.Z. Getting Around: For getting…
Outside magazine, December 1995 My Little Serrated Security Blanket The blacksmith of horror rejoices in the potentialities of an ice ax By Stephen King This is not the sort of gadget to inspire nursery rhymes. I look at the DMM Predator ice…
Travel Guide, Winter 1995-1996 Dominica By David Noland Dominica is for people who need sweat and grit in their tropical vacation: The island’s few beaches are mostly of black volcanic sand, and none rates even fair by Caribbean standards. What Dominica…
Outside magazine, July 1995 Cycling: The VistaLite VL530 By Hal Walter Most bike lights are sentenced to life on your handlebars. That’s OK when you’re staring straight ahead at single-track, but beyond the periphery of your bar-ends your prospects remain dim. A permanently mounted…
Outside magazine, August 1999 HOW-TO In Case of Tsunami, See Page 54 Gearing up for your worst nightmare? Buy this book. Brie: Don’t Leave Home Without It Do you ever lie awake at night wondering…
Outside magazine, August 1999 THE MAINE GUIDES Custom of the Country They make their own paddles. Their own pemmican. Their own packs. They make you happy. Welcome, tenderfoot: the Conovers on Sebec Lake, Maine…
Outside magazine, December 1995 A Tale of Winning Ugly By Todd Balf and Paul Kvinta You think no good can come of a paddler waxing Dickensian? Then don’t ask David Hearn about Gate 24. “It was the best and worst of slalom moves all…
News from the Field, February 1997 Business: What’s in a Name? New Wise Use tactics have enviros in the throes of an identity crisis By Todd Woody It’s a strategy that Suntzu and Machiavelli would have appreciated. Environmental groups forget…
Outside magazine, March 1998 Review: And While You’re At It … A few worthy extras for the discerning pedal-pusher By Alan Coté BICYCLES BUILT FOR ONE | AND WHILE YOU’RE AT IT ……
Outside magazine, January 1996 The Outside Prognosticator: Montanabahn I’ve been getting lots of calls from out-of-state folk who want to know if they really will be able to drive as fast as they want here,” says Major Bert Obert, a field forces commander for the Montana…
Outside magazine, March 1995 Ride With Pride: Careful, Buster Urban attitude advice from an honest cop By Sara Corbett City cyclists have an attitude problem,” says Sergeant Richard Green, a bicycle patrol officer in Santa Barbara, California. “They think, ‘Look at us,…
Camping Special, April 1997 Play Wiffle Ball! Discuss Descartes! Swim Buck Naked! Because there are no boring camping trips, only boring campers By Brad Wetzler There’s always one in the crowd, the neophyte camper who, in a panic over leaving…
Outside magazine, June 1995 What Are You Whining About? Enough with the war stories about your scrapes and tweaks. Meet the people who really give it all to their sport–again and again and again. By Paul Kvinta So, you’ve taken a bad…
Outside magazine, July 1996 Spirituality: The 86-Proof Campfire After you’ve cut superfluous inches off your toothbrush handle, ripped the covers off your paperback, and generally waged war on expendable ounces, it’s important to declare amnesty. Make room for a little self-indulgence–something precious to your soul.
Outside magazine, October 1996 Water Sports: OK, But Do They Have Guys Named Corky? At the World Surfing Games, winter-addled nations look to join the tribe By Jon Cohen “Usually we just sit around and watch surf videos and think about waves.”…
Camping Special, April 1997 Two Strikes and You’re Out Screwing up in the woods is unavoidable–but repeating your mistakes is something else entirely By Brad Wetzler To err is human. but according to NOLS’s Tom Reed, it’s not always excusable.
News from the Field, January 1997 Forestry: No Plaid, No Poulan, No Problem Stuck in the doldrums, American loggers take a lesson from the Swedes By Daniel D’Ambrosio Training loggers used to be a simple affair: Here’s a chainsaw; there’s a…
Outside magazine, May 1995 Foreign Travel: Narrowboat to Nowhere A slow poke along England’s canals By Mark Kramer The 2,000 miles of narrow canals that weave through England were built a few centuries ago to ferry coal from rural mines to mills…
Dispatches, July 1997 E X P L O R A T I O N One Giant Maybe for Robotkind As NASA heads for Mars, its remote-control rovers spin their wheels By Eric Scigliano…
Outside magazine, July 1997 The Mild One In which the author confronts the one obstacle between his throaty bike and the call of the open road: himself By Nicholas Dawidoff The author considers the road ahead I took my…
Outside magazine, October 1996 Wondering Where the Lions Are The Goal: Encountering Zimbabwe’s legendary wildlife. The Method: Authentic safariing, on battered foot through prickly bush. The Result: Well, now that you ask… Gavin Ford, one of Zimbabwe’s legendary…
Outside Magazine, October 1998 Destruction The Fire Inside Trees burn, as do young men. And therein lies the lesson By David Guterson All day we stood on the fire line, bored, wetting down the trees. Occasionally we wedged…
Dispatches, October 1998 Events Men Who Run with the Bulls A bunch of guys in the desert try to get in touch with the Inner Bovine By Matt Purdue “I‘ve watched this in Spain on television and thought, ‘What…
Outside magazine, December 1997 Field Notes: Boneheads A tale of big money, prison, Disney World, and the world’s foremost dinosaur-hunting twins By John Tayman On the morning when the fair-market value for the world’s finest unassembled real-bone Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton was…
Outside magazine, June 1996 They’re Back Twelve gold medals, 21 world titles. But for four of this century’s finest athletes, the road to Atlanta begins in Atlanta with this month’s U.S. Olympic Trials. Where, as at least one of them knows, anything can happen.
Outside magazine, March 1996 The Technician: Practice, Patience, and a Few Swabs of the Hanky The basics of on-trail repair from D. Scott Daubert, grease monkey to the elite By Kiki Yablon Scott Daubert has one last item he’d…
Outside Magazine, February 1995 Environment: War of the Worldviews Yes, Wise Users hate greens. But have they really inspired a wave of anti-green hate crimes? By Paul Koberstein Last Fall, in the northeastern Oregon town of Joseph, angry loggers and ranchers on…
Outside magazine, June 1997 Sin in the Wild Outdoors We Confess Pride goeth before a fall, as any climber knows. But what about the other deadly sins that flesh is heir to? Gluttony It’s…
Outside magazine, September 1996 I Spend, Therefore I Am Fresh off an aborted attempt to become the first person to pilot a hot-air balloon around the world (see “Balloonatics”), enormously wealthy Chicago commodities dealer Steve Fossett set his sights on the sea last June…
Outside magazine, September 1996 Innovation: Better Footware Through Perseverance Obstacles be damned. Molly Strong finally brings her toasty, grippy boots to her style-impaired public By Michael Parrish “Life for the small inventor is nothing less than brutal,” says Molly Strong with…
Outside magazine, June 1997 Straw Dogs In northern Botswana, a campaign to save an unvalued resident By Elizabeth Royte A predator is loose in the villages. It comes out of the tall grasslands, from the savanna to the north, and…
Outside Magazine, February 1995 Marathon: A Course of His Own By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard) Visitors get lost in New York every day. On November 6 it was German Silva’s turn. Unfortunately, the 26-year-old runner from Mexico was leading the New York Marathon…
Destinations, March 1997 Paradise Leased Borrow a million-dollar boat. Cruise the Caribbean. Grin. A beginner’s guide to sailboat charters. By Dan Dickison The Eel Ate My Homework Sailing schools teach navigation, confidence, and a good fish story or…
Outside magazine, May 1996 On Second Thought The most overrated The Compleat Angler, or the Contemplative Man’s Recreation, by Izaak Walton. “Walton: Sage benign!” wrote poet William Wordsworth, who penned an entire sonnet in praise of Izaak Walton’s famous fishing guide. Hundreds of…
Outside magazine, June 1998 Field Notes: Strange Bedfellows Quiz: The Carolina hills are (a) an outdoor mecca, (b) a bizarro magnet, (c) both By Alex Heard You sure don’t seem like evil anti-environmental extremists,” I told Ralph and Sandra…
 Outside magazine, June 1999 I Am Elena. You Will Fly Now. There, up there in the Arizona sky! It’s the cream of the once-mighty Soviet machine! Now pulling g’s at an airport near you. By Peter…
Outside magazine, August 1995 Parachuting: Why Is This Man Smiling? A near-fatal leap by BASE jumping’s biggest star rekindles an old debate about the right to risk your own life By Eric Perlman Last May, Will Oxx stood at the lip of…
Outside magazine, September 1997 Minnesotans, Start Your Engines? A long-simmering feud heats up on Capitol Hill, as canoeists and speedboaters square off over some of the nation’s most hallowed wilderness By Jonathan Weisman Gary Joselyn dips his paddle into Poplar…
Outside Magazine, February 1995 Mountaineering: Warning: Geezers Wielding Ice Axes In the latest Himalayan trend, youngest on top is a rotten egg By Laura Hilgers You’re on to an eternal loser when you do that one, aren’t you?” remarks renowned British alpinist…
Outside magazine, August 1999 HIGH POINTS Still the One: The 1999 Everest Almanac Mountaineering’s main attraction is bigger than ever This year’s May climbing season on Mount Everest saw record fan participation, a bevy of Everest-inspired products, and—lest…
Outside magazine, September 1997 The Natives Are Restless (But Smartly Dressed) Sartorial tips from the Last Frontier, epicenter for the power- recreationalist Clint McCool Whitewater guide, high school economics and philosophy teacher. Photographed at Chilkoot Charlie’s Rustic Saloon, Anchorage. Ten years…
Outside magazine, July 1997 I Am Monkey Flower Be the edible plant, urged the Queen Diva of foragers, and my wilderness hikes would yield a bounty of strange-looking, odd-smelling, but altogether damn tasty grub. Gastronomy meets botany, and the Weed Woman is your guide.
Four-minute mile? No problem. Twenty-nine-foot long jump? Cakewalk. The real question is, How far have we come and how far can we go as athletes?
Dispatches, September 1998 Sport The Snow is Fake, but the Air Totally Rocks The notoriously contrived, made-for-television X Games finally get real. By Kimberly Lisagor Some might call it hype. But the next time a 110-foot snow cone towers…